Has anyone visted Artisan recently?

[mrsmills]

Got quite into Catch as a concept, enjoyed the food, tried Artisan once - dreadful. Amateur service in every respect ranging from disinterested when it mattered to Nirmals style cloying when it didn't. Average food, vegetarian dishes particularly disappointing: ludicrously sparse and excessively priced. Chateau-briand served on something akin to a cake stand, overall sense of a restaurant needing to concentrate more on what it does day to day instead of obsessing over it's self awarded and totally meaningless title of 'Michelin aspiring'. Haven't been back to either place since

 

However, I've heard there have been some changes, have these been positive? Does anyone have any recent experiences?

[GQsm]

I went a few months back on a Sunday if that's recent enough for you.

Everything was of a good standard for my meal. Enjoyed it and be willing to recommend it.

 

Personally I always bare in mind that everyone has off days. The trick is working out which places they are rare (and you were unlucky) and which places they are the norm.

 

When Artisan & Catch first opened all my visits were to Catch (Still go multiple times a year). It was over a year after Artisan opened that I first went but all my meals there have been consistently good since the first.

 

If I'm in your situation I will normally try a place again with someone v close and for a non specific occasion. l stick to those that have served me well if I need to impress or entertain visiting guests. If I am going back to a place to see if I was unlucky first time, I also try and go when the pricing is more attractive, as even the early evening menu specials etc normally give an indication of the standards, and if you were right and the place is not your cup of tea then at least you haven't spent as much finding out.

 

If you do go, let me know how you get on.

[AYBABTU]

We went for my wifes Bday in early August and had a pretty disappointing evening.

Menu has had an overhaul and frankly there are too many dishes going on.

Plus some dishes are now starred as " Signature Dishes" which makes me wonder if Richard Smith is getting ideas above his station.

 

Has been one of our favourite restaurants in recent years but we had to complain about two starters and one main as really not being very good.

Response from the kitchen was that everything was OK as far as they could tell (but overcooking prawns is a bit amateurish)

 

Service was a bit woeful (one waitress said she had only been there 3 days) and no-one seemed in charge even though Mrs Smith was wandering around with a permanently stony expression.

 

Used to be great when Carl was managing but he has now gone to run the Robin Hood down in little Matlock , Loxley.

We had another moan at the end and they knocked some money off the bill.

 

And still Mrs Smith didnt even bother to come over and say anything , she left it to one of her waiters to deal with the problems.

 

Wont be going back in a hurry. The smiths need to stop empire building and go back to cooking good quality simple food...

[mrsmills]

Thanks for the replies, Skinner, I think my experience was similar to the one you've recently had and I tend to agree with the reasoning for it overall a disappointment.

 

In respect of the first reply, I have to say that for a restaurant pitching itself as it does I expect consistency, there is not a lot of room for 'off days'. To me, this is one of things that defines restaurants that aspire to be great restaurants from restaurants that are great restaurants.

[Shape]

I've been to Artisan twice now, once about 2 years ago and once recently.

 

I was disappointed the first time, but in fairness it wasn't their fault. I went with a very big party (about 40 people), and failed to let them know in advance that I had special dietary requirements (I'm lactose intolerant). As we were picking from a set menu, all they could offer me for a main was the chicken dish, but without the cream sauce, so I essentially had grilled chicken with veg, which was nice, but a bit plain and not really in the spirit of a gourmet restaurant!

 

Since then though, I've discovered lactase tablets which allow me to eat dairy once again! Woop! So, about three weeks ago I decided it was time to give Artisan another chance... and I really, really enjoyed it. One of my favourite meals in ages!

 

For starter I had the "Plate of Pig" (one of the signature dishes), which comprised of a square of belly pork topped with some spiced chutney, a disc of black pudding topped with caramelised onions, and a piece of pork terrine topped with a sort of salsa. There was some reduced jus drizzled round and a smudge of some vanilla-y apple sauce. Lovely.

 

Main was a piece of seared monkfish, which was meaty, juicy and had a great seared flavour. This came with tomato risotto, some chilli ketchup, some herbed creme fraiche and some crispy breaded prawns balanced on some pureed avocado. A little pretentious maybe, and possibly a bit much going on, but enjoyable and tasty nonetheless.

 

My dessert was ideal for a chocoholic - the signature tasting plate, which comprised of mini puds; white chocolate panna cotta, milk chocolate and orange mousse, frozen choclate and coconut truffle, tarte au choclat and dark chocolate ice cream. Heavenly!

 

Sadly, my companion wasn't so impressed with his meal but admitted he'd made poor choices. His starter of pigeon pie tasted yummy to me (minced pigeon and berries? in a pastry case, topped with two thick slices of pigeon breast), but I agreed that his cod main (with crab topping, gnocchi and bouillabase) was a bit bland and plain. Again, there was nothing wrong with his treacle tart, but it was a bit rich and filling after so much else!

 

We had a really nice bottle of New Zealand white with the meal and I had an amaretto afterwards. My companion had a cognac (although not the "cheap" £70 one jokingly recommended by our waiter!).

 

The staff were really friendly, jovial and helpful and couldn't fault them at all.

 

So... (after that long winded reply) based on my experience I'd recommend it!

[Orson]

We went with a group of 8 two weeks ago, and have been to both before. Food still pretty good - pigeon pie, chateaubriand and treacle tart. Yes, the chateau is served on a stand, but it's all part of the theatre, and didn't detract from the food.

The service was ok, but not as excellent as it used to be. They tried to charge us for an extra bottle of wine, but knocked it off happily enough when I pointed it out.

I think that they probably need to gee the service up a bit - it's getting a little "gap year haze" and almost as bad as the Blue Room!

[Sarah0574]

I went to Artisan for Sunday lunch with my partner and 10 month old son last Sunday. The food was very disappointing. My pork was lukewarm bordering on cold. My boyfriend's beef was so tough he couldn't eat it. The portions of vegetables were tiny, and the desserts were very basic. Wasn't worth the £16 a head. We complained and only got £4 knocked off the bill. I left still feeling hungry! But then I do have a big appetite. There were some good points: the appetisers and bread were lovely, the staff were nice, and they were good with our little son (however they were unable to give him any fresh mashed veg as it had already been salted - but at least they told us).

[lilemma22]

I went about a month ago and thought it was amazing the food was gorgeous and service was great to I will most definately be going back

[medicgirl]

I've been to Artisan twice, once a few months ago and once a couple of weeks back. On first visit very impressed, second time less so - food good but not excellent, a bit too 'busy'.

 

On the other hand, I LOVE both Catch and Thyme Cafe, easily my 2 favourite restaurants in Sheffield (but am eating at Rafters for the first time next week so may change my mind!)

[Saff]

My parents are look for somewhere to take their kids and grandkids for their anniversary. What's it like with children? Do people (customers) tend to look down on you with kids in there or is it more laid back? It's just there's a the offer of a kid eating free for every adult.